Hanging On and Letting Go
by bleachfanficfanatic
Summary: "Fine," Ichigo growled out, "who do you want me to ask on a date?" Ishida looked smug, "Inoue Orihime." "Absolutely not," he barked back fiercely. Orihime overheard the whole exchange and goes to college detemined to move on from Ichigo. A new man catches her eye only for Ichigo to show back up and realize what he's losing. Can he convince her to give him another chance? IchiHime
1. Chapter 1

**Apparently I have been writing too much fluff or listening to a lovelorn song too many times in a row but this angst piece popped in my head thanks to Ellie Goulding's "Hanging On". Really, I should just say she is my muse and be done with it. Anyway, this is a way roundabout IchiHime ship that starts out with mucho misunderstanding and lots of drama. Also chapters will most likely be shorter than I normally write. So, if that's not your thing, do not proceed with reading. If it is, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 1 – Hanging On

It was graduation night and the party at Keigo's was in full swing. He'd invited the entire senior class and almost all of them had shown up. The music was pumping, the drinks were flowing and everyone was excited to start the next phase of their journey in life.

Orihime was nervous because tonight was the night she was going to finally tell Ichigo how she felt. She figured now was the perfect time before they left to their respective schools. Tatsuki was having a hard time understanding her logic.

"Orihime," the petite karate fighter said with eyes closed and fingers rubbing her forehead in perplexed frustration, "explain to me again how telling Ichigo you love him when you're both getting ready to go to different colleges is a good idea?"

Orihime put her hand to her chin and looked up at the ceiling as she formulated her explanation, "Well, Tatsuki, this way I can finally get it off my chest and if he doesn't return my feelings we won't be around each other for it to be awkward."

"Ok, I concede that point, but Orihime," Tatsuki replied, "what if he _does_ return your feelings? What then? Have a long distance relationship from the get go?"

Orihime stared at her in silence for so long Tatsuki was afraid she'd possibly had an aneurysm until the truth hit her square in her face and she said quietly, "You really, truly believe he won't return them don't you? That is not even a blip on your radar of possibilities?"

Now Orihime's eyes shot down to the floor and she clasped her hands behind her back. She still had no reply but Tatsuki had grown accustom to reading her friend's non-verbals over the years.

Tatsuki stepped forward and placed her hand on the red-head's arm making her look at her, "Orihime, you have to know Ichigo cares about you at least a little. He probably just hasn't gotten around to realize it's love because he's either been too busy, to slow or too stupid to notice it."

The healer shook her head violently, "No, he's none of those things Tatuski. He's strong and brave and handsome and caring and kind and," but Tatsuki cut her off, "Ok, OK, I get it, he's the most freaking wonderful thing on earth since sliced bread but _you_ are wonderful too! And if he doesn't see all the reasons he should love you then he's an idiot!"

They stood silent for a few moments more before Tatsuki broke it again, "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, if you're so sure he doesn't return your affections why not just move on from him and start fresh without the awkwardness?"

One look in her friend's eyes told her why: hope. Orihime couldn't let go of the hope that she was wrong and until she knew otherwise she'd continue hanging onto the little bit of hope forever until her knuckles were white. Tatsuki squeezed her shoulder in a signal of understanding before saying, "Well, then I wish you good luck. I'm taking off, let me know later how it goes." Then she walked out the door to leave her friend to face her fears.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Good possibility of OOC for Ishida in this but I feel he's the only one who could rile Ichigo up enough for this to work. Also, this story will most likely have a lot of those moments for all characters, so hopefully people will just go with it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 2 – Letting Go

After Tatsuki had left Orihime took her courage in both hands and set off to find Ichigo. She had made sure to buy a new dress for the party, a deep rich royal blue which hit her just below the knees in a slightly flared skirt with snug bodice. It made her feel confident and beautiful. Her makeup was done and she'd pulled her hair completely up, a look she rarely did and it made her feel more grown up.

Walking purposefully through the throngs of now former high school students she headed upstairs to where she'd heard her guy friends were hanging out in the billiard room.

She was just about to open the door when she heard Ishida's voice say, "Alright Kurosaki, that's game, time to pay up."

Next came Ichigo's voice, irritated, but subdued, "Yeah, yeah Quincy, what's it going to be?"

Orihime frowned; if they were betting wouldn't they have set the terms already? Why was Kurosaki-kun asking what he owed?

In the room Ichigo was staring down his cousin and waiting for him to pronounce his fate. He couldn't believe he'd been roped into playing for dares. It was stupid and childish but he'd goaded him until Ichigo gave in. " _What the hell, it's the last time we'll all be together for a while, might as well join in,"_ he'd thought when he decided to play.

Of course, that was when he was confident he'd win. That had been dashed to pieces after Ishida became his opponent. Ichigo could shoot a mean game of pool but going up against an archer pretty much sealed his fate.

Ishida had his hand on his chin, appearing deep in contemplation. This was simply to annoy his defeated opponent further. The Quincy had known from the start of these shenanigans what he was going to make Ichigo do before the first ball had been hit. He also knew he'd been the one to win so his plan was really too easy. His grin made Ichigo flinch and he relished in keeping him in suspense.

Finally he answered, "You have to ask a girl of my choosing out on a date."

Ichigo frowned, "What? Really, that's the best you could come up with?"

Ishida chuckled, "It's perfect, you'll be like a fish out of water."

Ichigo scoffed, "Tch, like you'd do much better."

"Actually, I do," the Quincy countered and all the men looked at him in surprise before he continued, "I just never let anyone know about it. It isn't anyone's business and the woman I've been dating agrees. But that's neither here nor there, what is pressing at the moment is who do I send you out to?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and bit out, "You know, I never would have expected you to exploit someone else in a bet. Sure, fine, I'll admit asking a random girl out is not something I want to do and that is the whole point of this, but Ishida, what about the girl? What about her feelings?"

Ishida rolled his eyes, "Really Kurosaki? You think you're such a great catch that you would break a girl's heart because you were only willing to go out on one date? That's what a date is for, to see if there is anything between two people. If there isn't, even just on one side, the other party simply needs to understand. Who knows? Maybe you'll be the one to fall after one evening of whichever young lady's company I choose and she demurs from _you._ "

The rest of the guys sniggered a little but stopped when Ichigo shot them his signature glare.

"Fine," he growled out, "who do you want me to ask?"

Ishida looked smug, "Inoue Orihime."

Everyone in the room audibly gasped for which Orihime was grateful because she had inhaled sharply at his answer and had everyone else not she surely would have been heard where she was still standing outside the door. She knew she should get out of there but she couldn't get her feet to listen to her brain. The next instance she wished her feet hadn't been so stubborn as she heard Ichigo's reply.

"Absolutely not," he barked out fiercely. So much so that it actually caught Ishida off guard. He'd thought surely he'd given Ichigo an easy lob. He _knew_ Orihime would say yes, just like he knew they'd have a great time and it would give Ichigo the push he needed to tell the girl how he really felt about her.

Ishida was, of course, aware of Orihime's affections for the orange haired man before him. Pretty much all of their close friends were and though he knew she'd initially be nervous he had no doubt she'd accept. Why was his cousin so dead set against asking her out on one date?

Ichigo was fuming, fists clenched as he tried to reign in his temper. He knew that Ishida had deduced what Ichigo had just come to realize himself in the past year and that was he liked Orihime as much more than a friend.

What Ishida _didn't_ know was Ichigo had already decided he would never act on those feelings. He was a tainted man, war worn and blood covered, with a monster lurking inside him always fighting to emerge. Even just going on one simple, unassuming date would shoot his resolve straight to hell.

He'd made sure to always have people around when he was with her. He just didn't trust himself not to blurt out what had slowly grown from an infatuation to an obsession. What made it worse was he knew his hollow was attracted to her too. The things he said about her made him sick to his stomach, mostly because he _agreed_ with and desired some of the scenarios described by his baser self. It made him feel like a pervert thinking those things about someone as sweet, innocent and untainted as Orihime.

Even with everything she'd gone through the last two years Orihime had managed to maintain her positive outlook. He knew there were deep shadows she didn't talk about but also knew her light was bright enough to squash them out. Therefore he refused to place himself in a position to bring the rain permanently. He was a punk ass who had no idea how to treat her like she deserved so he'd regulated himself to the sidelines.

The silence wore on as the two men stared at each other until Ishida broke it, "Kurosaki, why on earth," but Ichigo cut him off tersely, "Damn it, I said no Uryu! To hell with this! This was a stupid idea anyway."

He stalked through the door and headed down the stairs. He did not hear or see the object of their conversation standing in the alcove, clenching her chest as tears rained down her cheeks.

" _If he doesn't want to go on even one date with me, why would I tell him I love him?"_ she asked herself. Cold harsh reality had steamrolled over her girlish dream of true love that lasts forever. After she's composed herself she stood up straight, wiped her tears and strode forward down the stairs and out the door. She was letting go of Ichigo Kurosaki, starting right now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 3 – Best Laid Plans

Orihime made it back to her apartment and looked around her. She had packed over the last two weeks, selling her furniture and boxing up everything she was taking to university with her. Despite her outward appearance and tendency to have a ditzy disposition she was really quite intelligent. That intelligence had garnered a scholarship to Tokyo University with full room and board paid for along with half her tuition.

"I'm so glad I never said anything to him, I'm not sure I could have survived a rejection that fierce," she murmured to herself and felt her heart clench painfully again. Her phone chimed in her purse.

Heading over to where she'd set it down on the counter she extracted the phone and saw Tatsuki had texted her.

 **T: So, how did it go?**

 **O: It didn't**

 **T: Oh? What happened?**

 **O: Let's just say I'm really glad I never told him. It's time to move on**

 **T: Wow, wasn't expecting that, are you ok? Do you need me to come over?**

 **O: No, that's ok, I'm tired and just want to go to bed. I have an early train ride tomorrow.**

 **T: Ok, well, I'm here if you need me. I'm coming over to help you cart your boxes and bags to the station tomorrow morning.**

 **O: I know, thanks for always being such a great friend. See you in the morning**

Sitting on her couch Tatsuki frowned at the exchange. What could have happened that changed Orihime's game plan so drastically? She heard a knock on her door. Opening it up she grinned at the person in front of her stepping back to let him in. The moment the door was closed she was pressed up against it and her lips captured fiercely. She sighed and ran her fingers through Ishida's raven hair.

Once he'd properly greeted her he pulled back and looked down into her eyes and sighed.

"What's the matter?" Tatsuki asked with a frown.

"You remember that idea I told you about for Kurosaki?" he asked, his arms still around her waist and hers about his neck.

She nodded and he continued, "Well, it crashed and burned before it even got off the ground. That man, I swear," but he trailed off when he saw her eyes widened more.

It was his turn to ask, "What?"

By now Tatsuki had unwound herself from her secret boyfriend's arms and walked to sit back down on the couch before speaking again, "Damn it, Uryu, if I'd known you were going to try that tonight I would have told her to wait. I would have kept her with me..." she trailed off.

"Tatuski, what are you talking about?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"What did Ichigo say exactly?" she asked turning to face him.

"Not much. When I told him who he had to ask on a date he barked out that he absolutely would not ask Inoue and wouldn't tell us why."

"Ugh," she groaned and flung her head into her hands.

Uryu felt his stomach tightening as he waited for her to continue. She looked up and met his eyes again, "Right before I left she was on her way to find Ichigo and finally confess to him. I texted her tonight to see how it went and she said it didn't. Now I know why."

He blinked but then shook his head as the realization hit him, "Damn it, she heard, didn't she? She heard every damn word! Damn it!" He punctuated his last curse by standing up from the couch and pacing in frustration.

"Kami, Tatsuki, I…I feel like such an ass. I had no idea she would be anywhere near us. I've…I've got to fix this," he said as he strode forward to the door.

His pathway was blocked by his diminutive girlfriend, "Uryu, I think…I think we've done enough as it is. If this is meant to be with them, we just have to trust it will work itself out. Any further involvement on our part will just make it worse."

"Now I understand the phrase "the best laid plans of mice and men"," Uryu muttered as she clasped his hands, "but you're right. We can only wait and see." He sighed deeply, still feeling terrible at what had happened. Tatuski moved her hands, sliding up his chest towards his neck again. He leaned down and picked her up in a hug.

"Come on, let's get some sleep, I have to be over to Orihime's early in the morning to help her get her stuff to the train station," Tatsuki said in his ear. He nodded and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.

They prepared for bed and laid down, each heavyhearted for their friends who they knew cared for each other so much but for reason could not get on the same page.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 4- Moving On

Orihime tossed and turned, sleep simply not coming to her. She kept remembering the fierceness of Ichigo's tone when he'd refused to follow through with asking her on a date. She'd no idea how truly opposed he was to anything even resembling romance between them.

She'd always told herself that had she confessed and he didn't return her affections she would remain his friend. After all, it wouldn't be his fault if she felt something for him he simply didn't reciprocate. But now she very much doubted her ability to stay friends, at least not close friends.

" _But have we ever really been that close?"_ she questioned.

And she realized for the first time that the only reason she thought of them as close was because they shared the same secret of being more than merely humans. Past that shared blessing/curse they didn't talk much. They didn't confide in each other.

" _So why do I love him? Do I love him? Or am I just infatuated with him?"_ These questions were continuing to keep her awake. As she kept pondering them she came to the conclusion that she did love him and it was because of who she knew he was. She hadn't lied to Tatsuki that night when she's said he was brave, honorable, kind, truth worthy and loyal.

But he could also be bullheaded, obnoxious and downright rude from time to time. Though, Orihime realized, these characteristics didn't bother her as much because he never directed them to her. It was that fact which caused to her hold onto the hope that maybe he did feel something a little deeper for her but after tonight she was sure that was not true.

And now she was questioning whether she could manage to be around him anymore. She knew they were going to different colleges but eventually they'd all back together again at some point. Orihime could only hope that the distance between them in the coming years could help her mend heart enough to move on and open it to another. But she knew she'd have to cut ties for a while.

" _Not that it will be hard, it's not like he'll call or email or anything. So if I just don't contact him it will all be fine,"_ she thought.

Finally she succumbed to sleep but was met with fitful dreams. The morning both came too fast and not soon enough and she was very glad she was leaving to Tokyo early. The school semester wouldn't start for another 2 months but she had decided to take the option to move in early and get a part time job. She had her class schedule already so she knew what she availability she could offer to potential employers.

She was showered, changed and ready to go by the time she heard Tatsuki's knock at the door. Opening it she was surprised to seeing Uryu with her but smiled a greeting to them both.

Tatsuki sent Uryu a questioning glance and he nodded. Orihime cocked her head in curiosity of the exchange as they walked into her kitchen.

"Orihime, there's something I…we…wanted to tell you," Tatsuki said.

The healer merely waited for her to continue.

"Um…the thing is…Uryu and I have…been…dating for the past six months," Tatsuki stammered nervously.

Orihime's eyes widened slightly and then she squealed as she threw her arms around both of them, "Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for you both. Oh wow! I can't believe no one knew!"

"Well, we kept it quite hidden; we didn't want interference or speculation. It was nice having it just be the two of us, plus if it didn't work out we didn't want it to be awkward for all of our friends. However, we have elected to continue dating and felt it was time to tell one of our closest friends about our relationship," Uryu said.

"Thank you for not being mad, I mean, I hated keeping it a secret sometimes but Uryu is right, we wanted to make sure we were solid before announcing it," Tatsuki said as she hugged her friend tightly, so thankful that she was not hurt or angry at them.

"Oh I totally understand, honestly, I'm just thrilled about it," Orihime said.

"Ahem, anyway, shall we proceed with getting your possessions to the train station and you on the train?" Uryu asked.

Orihime nodded and they started moving items down to Uryu's car.

"Um, not that I want to pry but," Tatsuki said hesitatingly, "aren't you going to say goodbye to Ichigo?"

Orihime tensed slightly and had a strange small smile on her face, "He knows I'm leaving today, if he wants to say goodbye he will but if not then I'm not going to seek him out."

Tatsuki placed a hand on her arm, "Orihime, are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened last night?"

Orihime shook her head, trying to keep her eyes from shedding tears. Really, she'd shed enough over the man for all the five lifetimes she promised to love him. She was done crying. She smiled brightly, "I'll be fine, come on, let's get going."

In his bedroom at home Ichigo was sound asleep, having stay out most of the night looking for a hollow fight. He'd found a couple but he spent most of the time flying around the town thinking over what had happened at the party. He realized he never did end up even seeing Orihime that night but after the exchange with Uryu he was glad of it. He'd made it to his bed by 4AM and was exhausted.

His door was open and from downstairs he heard the sound of a train whistle on whatever show Yuzu was watching while she ate breakfast. The sound pierced to his consciousness and his eyes shot open.

"Crap, Orihime's leaving today!" he said springing to his feet. He changed clothes quickly and sprinted down the stairs, out the door and ran full speed towards her apartment. By the time he reached it they were already gone.

"Damn it," he hissed through his teeth breathing hard from his excursion. He took another deep breath and took off running for the train station.

He rounded the bend and entered the station just as the train pulled away. On the platform he saw Tatsuki and Uryu…holding hands? He decided to process the new information later. Right now, he was beyond pissed with himself that he'd missed saying goodbye to the one person he knew above all others he would miss the most.

The couple in front of him turned and when they saw him he saw a mixture of pity, frustration and exasperation cross their faces as they took in the sight of the man bent forward resting his hands on his knees breathing heavily. He dropped his head to avoid their gaze and cursing to himself turned away, walking back in the direction he'd come from.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: For the club scene I was listening to Linkin Park's "A Light That Never Comes".**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo. Also do not own Superman and mentions of likenesses are to facilitate quick OC character descriptions.**

Chapter 5 – Starting Over

It was the end of her second week in Tokyo and Orihime had successfully moved into her dorm, found a part time job on the campus working at the bookstore and become fast friends with her roommate Tamara. She was a friendly blonde with blue streaks in her hair. Her eyes were such a light blue they looked like ice but her expressions were usually warm and welcoming. She came from England and was already making Orihime wish she had money to travel so she could see all the wonderful sights and taste all the interesting foods.

"Well luv, perhaps you can come back with me over Christmas break," she'd offered and Orihime thought it sounded like a great plan. If she started saving right away she just might have enough for the plane ticket and Tamara had said she could stay with her and her family.

Now she was sitting in her room reading one of the books on the list of required reading for her literature class. Since she had quite a bit of free time she figured it was best to get started so she'd be ready for the beginning of the semester.

Her phone chimed from across the room and Tamara was next to it so she picked it up walking towards Orihime. She glanced at the screen saying with a slight frown, "Hmm, it's _him_ again."

Orihime sighed and took the phone from her friend's hand, looking at the screen and confirming that yes, it was Ichigo. The text made her think back to train ride from Karakura.

 _She was on the train, tears streaming down her face after her goodbye with Uryu and Tatsuki. But she knew that some of the tears were because Ichigo hadn't shown up. That was the nail in the proverbial coffin for her and she couldn't help feeling hurt. So she let herself cry a little for all that she was leaving behind, including a love she'd clung to pitifully for years._

 _As she was in the midst of her misery she'd heard her phone chime and looking down saw a text from him._

 _ **I: Inoue, I am so sorry I wasn't there to say goodbye**_

 _She had stared at the screen for a few moments, surprised he actually apologized so quickly but then realized that wasn't really fair. He wasn't completely callous, she knew he had a kind heart and knew he hated her being sad. But she was still really hurt and decided it would be best to not text him back in that moment lest she say things she couldn't take back._

 _So she set her phone back in her purse and resumed her observation of the sights streaming past her as the train continued on its journey._

 _Two minutes later her phone went off again._

 _ **I: Inoue, please, say something, anything…**_

 _She knew she was being cruel, maybe even childish, but she wasn't ready to talk to him and wasn't ready to forgive. So she turned the phone off and buried it in her purse._

She had eventually texted him, saying something about it being ok, she understood. But she didn't and she had still wanted to tell him how hurt she was but she simply did not want to go into _why_ it hurt her as much as it did. Doing so would not help her in her quest to move on from him.

And here he was, reaching out again.

 **I: Hey Inoue, how are you liking Tokyo so far?**

 **O: It's really great, so much bigger than Karakura.**

 **I: I'm sure. Have you found a job?**

 **O: Yes, I'm working at the bookstore on campus**

 **I: That's great! How's your roommate?**

 **O: Really great, we became fast friends**

 **I: Good, good. Anything else new?**

 **O: Not really, just working on some literature**

 **I: Already? Classes haven't even started yet**

 **O: I know but I want to get ahead a bit since I'm working**

 **I: I guess that makes sense, but make sure you get out sometimes and meet some people**

 **O: Right back at you, gotta run**

 **I: Ok, talk to you later**

And the thing was she knew he would. He kept reaching out, kept connecting. It was…annoying? Why was she annoyed? Oh that's right, because she was trying to move on from him but he stubbornly remained a fixture in her life even when he was miles and miles away.

"Orihime, why don't you just tell the bloke to go fly a kite if you don't want to talk to him anymore?" Tamara asked crossing her arms.

Orihime sighed, "Because, it's not like he said what he said to purposely hurt me. He didn't even know I was there, didn't know I have…had…feelings for him."

"All the same, it's clear that you want some peace from the man," she countered. Every time Orihime had interaction with Ichigo her face was tense, almost looking pained and it worried her new friend.

Sighing again the red-head said, "Yeah, I know, I know. Maybe it won't be as frequent when we're both in the throngs of school."

"Avoidance does not become you," the blond quipped and Orihime snickered but blushed slightly.

"Ugh, I don't want to think about it anymore," she said tossing the phone onto her bed, "I'm not going to be able to concentrate on this anymore. Do you want to go out?"

"Hell yes, let's go to that dance club! I have some energy to expel and I'm horny as hell so it's perfect," Tamara exclaimed.

Orihime laughed, her blush deepening. She knew that Tamara was far more experienced than her in pretty much every facet of life but she actually liked that she didn't shy away from exposing her to certain things. Her friends in Karakura had always sheltered her from so much because they felt she was so fragile.

Tamara, though she teased her, did not shy away from teaching her about the world around her. She was thankful because she felt she could handle herself better now that she was thrust into an adult world full of adult things.

So the girls fixed themselves up, Tamara slipping on a slinky hot pink dress with low back that hugged her medium frame perfectly with white pumps and Orihime a short black pleated shirt, black bootie peep toe shoes and grey cold shoulder top. Orihime's belt had a small compartment on the inside where they put their money and ID cards along with their room key and her cell phone. Hair and makeup done they walked to the subway and took it into downtown where the dance club was.

It was an all ages place with wrist bands for those who could drink. Orihime had never been a fan of drinking, the little bit that she had done usually at one of Keigo's parties and she nursed one all night, so not drinking was fine with her. She was excited to be able to step into this world with no one knowing her except her roommate who wouldn't judge her for coming out to have a good time and let off some steam by dancing the night away. Neither had work the next day so they could sleep in.

They made it in no problem, the cover charge being waived because they were both quite attractive and the bouncers knew the club manager wanted the place filled with lovely ladies to attract the wealthy male clientele of the surrounding area.

Orihime and Tamara had found they really liked this club because the DJ played an awesome mix of music. There was traditional rap, J-pop, a few slow R&Bs on their "romance" nights, and remixes of all types of music. Sometimes he even threw in some rock music just for fun. They wasted no time in reaching the dance floor, picking up the beat and moving right along.

Orihime had never really been comfortable dancing in front of others but she realized it was because she was so concerned with what Ichigo would think of her. Was she too wanton? Did she look like a loose girl? The thought of ever trying to dance with him almost had her break out in hives from nervousness and she'd immediately given it up. But here, in Tokyo, she found she could move with the beat well and was actually a pretty good dancer.

Tamara had shown her some moves which transferred well to most dance songs and had taught her how to find and keep moving with the beat. They'd only been here two previous times but each time had been propositioned for dances by multiple men. As long as they stayed close together they were fine with it but if the guys wanted to drag them away somewhere else they politely declined and clung to each other.

Overall, there were not creeps here because the bouncers did their jobs well. There were also bouncers stationed around the dance floor to assist with either over friendly partners or if fist fights broke out between the heavily intoxicated or the heavily testosterone fueled. Usually it was a mix of both but occasionally there were some cat fights broken up.

Tonight was no exception and before they'd been on the floor five minutes two guys approached them. Orihime was struck by one of them right away because of his piercing green eyes. The last time she'd seen eyes that green were Ulquiorra but this guy's eyes weren't cold like his had been. They were shining with just enough mischief to make her excited.

More than that, he looked kind, even when he was sizing them up. It was an odd mixture of gentlemanliness coupled with sexual prowess. Except for his green eyes he was practically a twin of Henry Cavill and she was startled by how immediately attracted to him she was.

The last person who'd made her heart flutter like this from looks alone was Ichigo.

His companion was also handsome, his facial structure and hair style reminding her of a younger version of Idris Elba.

Green eyes spoke first, "Good evening, you ladies looking for some dance partners?"

Tamara shot a quick glance to her roommate and then eyed the Elba double, clearly indicating she was interested in him. That suited Orihime just fine, she wanted Superman anyway.

"Sure, know where we could find any?" Tamara asked cheekily. Both men laughed and green eyes replied.

"Yes, in fact we just happen to be available. My name is Dominic and this is my friend Bryson."

Orihime smiled at them both and offered, "My name is Orihime and this is my friend and roommate Tamara. Pleasure to meet you."

"Believe me," Dominic said as he took her hand and kissed it chastely, "the pleasure is all ours. Shall we ladies?"

They nodded and paired off, Bryson with Tamara and Dominic with Orihime. Before she knew it an hour had passed and she'd only been dancing with Dominic. He was an excellent dancer and knew how to lead and position her through song after song. Despite the fact that he never touched her inappropriately Orihime felt her body heating up from more than just the movement of it. She was viscerally attracted to this guy and it was a bit startling.

At one point when he leaned to speak into her ear so he wouldn't have to yell over the music his breath on her neck made her shiver, "Orihime, I don't know about you but I could do with a rest and some water. Care to join me at one of the tables upstairs?"

Orihime replied, "Let me see what Tamara and Bryson want to do."

She stepped over to where the two of them were dancing leaning in to speak into her Tamara's ear, "Dominic and I were thinking of taking a break upstairs, care to join?"

"Not really, I'm having fun with this one, go on luv, he seems a gentleman. We'll meet up with you later unless you come back down before we're done."

Orihime was surprised as they didn't usually separate but she also felt Tamara was right. There was something about these guys that made her trust them; almost how she felt about Ishida, Chad and Ichigo. So she nodded her agreement and headed back to her partner.

"They're going to stay here for a bit but I agree, let's get off our feet and get a drink," she said as they walked off the dance floor, his hand on the small of her back. The slight touch made her heart flutter again and she wondered again at the strange effect this man had over her.

They'd found a small table for two and Dominic headed to the bar to get them waters. He returned ten minutes later apologizing for the wait.

"No problem, it's really busy in here tonight," Orihime commented as she took a sip of water.

They spent some time getting to know each other, her talking about Karakura and Japan in general while he explained he was there on a student visa from Nevada and talked a little about his life in America.

Orihime marveled at herself for being able to carry on a conversation with him without overly stuttering or blushing. Despite her obvious attraction to him he made her feel comfortable and she was talking normally.

"Are you attending Tokyo University too?" Orihime asked surprised.

"Yes, is that where you go?"

"Uh huh, Tamara and I are living at on campus dorms, we're both freshmen."

"Bryson and I are both junior transfers and share an apartment about 15 minutes from the campus."

By now Tamara and Bryson made their way to join them and the couples rotated so that the newcomers could have a seat.

"I don't know about you but I'm bushed," Tamara said to Orihime who nodded in reply.

"May we offer you a ride home?" Bryson asked and as this was the first he'd spoken Orihime heard a faint British accent on him as well.

Tamara smiled, "You boys are sweet and all but I don't think we're quite ready to jump into a car with you yet."

Orihime, despite her agreement with this sentiment, was a little nervous they would take offense but the both smiled good-naturedly and didn't press the issue.

"Then may we settle for your phone numbers?" Dominic asked looking at Orihime. She blushed slightly but knew she wanted to see him again and even though they all went to the same school she didn't want to leave it to chance to see him again.

She stopped a waitress passing by and asked to borrow her pen. Taking a napkin she wrote down her cell phone number. She looked at Tamara and the girl nodded her permission to add hers which Orihime did.

She handed the napkin to Dominic who smiled and they said their goodbyes.

The girls were sitting on the subway when Orihime's phone chimed. Looking down she smiled.

 **This is, of course, Dominic, or Dom if you'd like to call me what my friends do. I had a great time with you tonight Orihime and really look forward to seeing you again if you're interested. Not to sound desperate but maybe lunch or dinner tomorrow? I'd love to get to know you more.**

She saved the number and texted him back.

 **Dom, I had a great time with you as well and no you don't sound desperate and yes I'd love to see you again. Dinner sounds great, let me know when and where.**

He replied right away.

 **D: We could go to the pizza parlor near campus, it's within walking distance if you'd like to meet there.**

 **O: Perfect, does 7:00 work?**

 **D: Yes, see you then.**

Orihime didn't understand her ability to move on this quickly but figured Ichigo's blunt, if unknown, rejection of her was just the slap in the face she had needed to stop being a lovesick puppy and move forward in her life as a woman. An apparently desirable woman and she planned to embrace and expand upon her new identity.

 **Author's Note: I know I keep commenting on the OOC of the characters in this but I hope it's enjoyable to see these characters that we all know and love thrust into** _ **very**_ **different circumstances thus showing different behaviors and reactions.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 6 – Willpower

The next day back in Karakura Ichigo was busy at work in the clinic with his father. Unbeknownst to his friends he had suddenly decided to stay behind taking community college courses first and working at the clinic for his internship before transferring to university.

It wasn't what he'd initially wanted but as graduation had neared he found himself less and less opposed to the idea. Plus, for now, he was still the guardian of Karakura and would not abandon his duty.

The day passed fairly quickly as they dealt with various patients. Ichigo, for all his rough exterior and blunt nature, had found he was actually really good with children. He figured out after a couple days of handling them the reason for it was he appreciated their straight forward nature.

They in turn responded well to him because he treated them like real people, gave them respect and let them talk.

The end of the day finally reached and he headed upstairs to shower and change before dinner. He took a moment to shoot Orihime a text to see how her day was and then headed to the bathroom.

By the time he'd gotten back she still hadn't answered so he figured she was at work and would get back to him later but he was disappointed.

He knew why he was feeling like this, having realized it not too long after she'd left for Tokyo. He'd been a fool to think that simply ignoring his feelings for her would make them go away. Initially he'd hoped her absence would make it easier for them to disappear entirely so he could go back to thinking of her as a friend; a good friend but just a friend.

But as the days continued to go on he missed her more and more. He'd think of her smile, her laugh, the silly things she would say, or the horrifying concoctions of foods she ate.

Then there were the dreams. They were happening more frequently and becoming more vivid. Half the time he'd wake up wondering if he was re-living a memory because it seemed so _real_ but then he'd shake his head and know it had only been a torturous dream.

" **King, I swear, I'm sick of this! It rains in here constantly and your defeatist attitude is grating on my last nerve! Man up! Call her and tell her how you feel!"**

Ichigo was disturbed to have his hollow trying to give him romantic advice and ignored him.

Two more days went by and he still hadn't heard from her. Not that they'd talked about it much before she'd left but he had assumed they would stay in contact. They'd been through hell and back together and he considered her one of his closest friends. " _Yeah, that I'm in love with but what of it?"_ He'd thought and then realized _what_ he'd just thought. Was he really in love with her?

After a full week of not hearing from her he broke down and called her. Her cell phone went straight to voicemail so he tried her dorm number.

The phone rang twice and then a male voice answered, "Hello?"

The rich baritone voice startled Ichigo and he pulled the phone away from his ear to glare at it as if it could explain what he was hearing.

He heard the voice say again, "Um, hello?"

When he'd put his ear back to the phone he answered, "Ah, yeah, is Inoue there?"

The voice replied, "She's indisposed at the moment, may I tell her who called?"

Instead of replying to the question Ichigo asked a couple of his own, "What do you mean indisposed? Who the hell are you?"

The male on the other end didn't seem affected by his tone which irritated Ichigo even more, "I mean, she's not available to come to the phone right now. As to who I am, I don't see how that's any of your concern. Now, did you have a message or would you like to call back?"

Ichigo felt a growl rumbling in his chest as he replied, "I'm not hanging up until I speak to her."

There was a pause on the other end of the line but before the man could reply Ichigo heard Orihime's voice in the background, "Dom, who's on the phone?"

He heard the man, Dom apparently, reply, "Some guy who said he's not hanging up until he speaks to you. Is everything ok Orihime?"

Ichiog stiffened at the way Dom said her name, it was _way_ too familiar and he felt an uncomfortable tightening in his chest. It tightened more when he was sure he heard her sigh but it sounded like in exasperation.

"Yeah Dom, everything's fine, here let me talk to him," Orihime said and the next moment he heard her clearly on the line.

"Kurosaki-kun," she said but the usual warmth when she said his name was not present, "what's up?"

He wasn't sure what to say for a moment but finally managed, "Um, nothing much, I just wanted to check on you. I texted you a week ago and hadn't heard back so I wanted to make sure you were ok. Who was that who answered the phone?"

"I'm fine, as for why you didn't hear back my cell phone died and I haven't had time to get a new one yet," she replied, still not quite sounding like the same girl he knew when she was in Karakura and noticeably avoiding his last question.

"Oh, well, that makes sense then, I was…" but before he could continue she interrupted him, "Sorry to worry you Kurosaki-kun. I'd love to stay and talk but I have to get going. We'll talk later, ok?"

"Yeah, but Inoue, who's with you, are you sure you're ok?" he asked again.

She replied swiftly, "Yes, Kurosaki-kun, I'm fine. That was Dom."

"I heard his name when you spoke to him, I'm asking who he is," Ichigo pushed getting irritated that she was avoiding the question.

"He's a friend, didn't you tell me to get out and meet people not too long ago?" there was slight jest in her voice but it was strained.

"Yeah, I guess…" and he trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

She waited a beat before saying, "Listen Kurosaki-kun, I am sorry that you were worried about me but I'm fine. I'm just busy as I'm sure you are. I have to run but we'll talk again soon. Have a goodnight."

"Yeah, sure, goodnight Inoue," he replied and then she was gone.

Ichigo felt a sense of foreboding creeping up his spine as he set his phone down. He'd sworn to himself he would let her go, that she deserved so much better than anything he could offer her. But hearing a male's voice, one he didn't know anything about at all, on her phone, in her room, where she may be alone with him made his willpower wavier and he found himself _and_ his hollow chomping at the bit to race to her side and tell her everything regardless of the consequences.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes of Thanks:**

 **Guest: Thank you for your kind description of my fic, it is appreciated. I hope you enjoy the ride.**

 **Off the Grid and Princess: Thanks! I'm glad people are enjoying this.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 7 – Spoken For

When Orihime hung up the phone she could feel Dominic's eyes on her. She swallowed waiting for him to speak.

"Orihime," he began and stepped placing his hands on her shoulders, "what was that all about?"

She closed her eyes, willing the tension in her heart to release, trying to stop her tears from coming, forcing her lungs to inhale and exhale normally. Her pulse was racing and she was sure Dom would feel it eventually if she didn't get it under control.

Initially when she'd taken the phone from him she thought she'd be fine. But Ichigo's voice washed over her like a fierce ocean wave that took her breath away. It had been almost a month since she'd heard it and now she was a wreck.

That was why she'd tried to get him off the phone as fast as possible. Why she had been so abrupt, so rude and so callous. She could tell she'd hurt him, more than that she had _lied_ to him. Her phone wasn't dead, she had ignored him but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that and hurt him more.

When she hadn't replied Dom continued, "Look, obviously something is going on with this guy. Your phone isn't dead, why did you tell him it was? Who was that?"

Orihime could face the man behind her no better than the man she'd left behind in Karakura. The past week had been almost magical to her, so much so it was ridiculous.

She and Dom had so many things in common and for those topics they didn't they had been excited and eager to learn from each other. He made her feel confident and beautiful, funny and well liked, but overall she felt she could just be herself with him without worrying about it.

"Orihime, please look at me," Dom asked but he made no attempt to move her. She still couldn't do it, in shock because of all the emotions and memories washing over her. She'd tamped them down far into the corners of her heart and mind. But one moment of hearing his voice had brought them all back to the surface and they were a crushing weight.

Sighing Dominic removed his hands from her shoulders and stepped to the door. Opening it he turned and said to her profile, "I'm going to go, you obviously have some things you need to deal with regarding this guy. But know this; I hope you weren't serious when you said I was a friend. We may have only known each other a week but I'm falling for you."

He paused taking in a deep breath before continuing, "Actually, I've already fallen, flat on my face in surrender to how I feel about you. But I won't wait around forever. So when you figure out what you want or how you feel about me, call me. Just don't take too long." With that, he walked out the door and was gone.

Once the door had clicked shut Orihime collapsed to the ground and sobbed. She cried and cried and cried, pouring out all her emotions through her eyes. Eventually she'd made it to her bed lying down with her back to the door still sniffling and tears still flowing but she wasn't sobbing anymore.

Eventually she heard the door open and Tamara came in, back from her third date with Bryson. The moment she saw her roommate she knew something was wrong.

"Orihime?" she asked softly and sat on the bed. The prone girl turned to face her and Tamara seeing the redness of her face, the puffiness of her eyes and the tear trails on her cheeks gasped slightly.

"Oh sweetie, what happened?" she asked rubbing her back.

Orihime sat up and flung her arms around her neck, crying again but not as vehemently because she was so tired. Tamara just held her as best she could as she rubbed her back.

"Honey, talk to me, tell me what happened. Did Dominic say or do something to hurt you?" her friend asked incredulously.

Orihime shook her head and pulled back, trying to get her voice to work. She'd sworn she was done crying over Ichigo but obviously that was not the case.

When she met Tamara's eyes the healer finally managed to choke out, "No…no he didn't….do anything…wrong. It's….a….all my fault!"

"What are you talking about, what could possibly be your fault?"

As best as she could Orihime explained what happened and Tamara's eyes got wider the longer she listened. When Orihime had finished the woman in front of her shook her head in understanding and sympathy.

Orihime wailed, "Oh Tamara! I…I don't know what to do! I want to move on so badly but he's just stuck here," she pointed to her heart, "he's stuck here and won't leave. Why won't he leave? Why does someone so wonderful hurt me so, so much?"

Tamara grabbed Orihime's face with her hands and made her look in her eyes, "Orihime, calm down and listen to me," she waited until the red-head's breathing evened out a bit before continuing, "you've got to sort this out and soon. It's not fair to Dom to string him along. I know you didn't mean to but luv, you've spent every moment you could with him this past week and now all of a sudden a boy from your past calls and you won't talk to him? Are you really willing to lose what could be something great with Dom because you're hung up on a boy who couldn't see what was right in front of him?"

Orihime took in a shuttering breath, "I know, but, it's not Kurosaki-kun's fault," she started only to have Tamara interrupt, "Like hell it isn't!"

Her blue eyes almost glowed with her indignation, "Orihime, I am sure I don't know even half of what you did for Kurosaki but if he didn't see your worth he's not worth your time or your tears!"

Orihime still wasn't sure but what Tamara was saying did make some sense, didn't it? She took another breath and nodded her head.

"Ok then, let's get you cleaned up and you call Dom. You don't have to profess love for him or anything but, give him a chance. Be honest with him so he knows where you stand and he can decide from there if he still wants to pursue something with you. If he doesn't, well, it may suck but at least you'd given him the chance to make that decision. Actually, you go get ready and I'll call Dom to come pick you up, ok?"

Orihime nodded again and Tamara swatted her into the bathroom to take a shower and get changed.

Picking up her phone she dialed Dom's number, "Hey Tamara, what's up?"

"Hey luv, Orihime filled me in on what happened while you were here. I think the poor girl just needed a meltdown moment. Can you come pick her up in half an hour? She wants to talk to you," Tamara said.

"Yeah, I'll be there. And Tamara?" he said.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for your help."

Tamara smiled, "No problem Dom, you're a good one, just try to be patient with her ok? She's been through a lot, more even than she's told me I'm sure."

"Yeah, I guess I was a bit abrupt with her today," he sighed.

"It's understandable," she replied, "Anyway I'll see you when you get here."

Half an hour later Orihime was sitting at her desk writing in her journal when Dominic knocked at the door. She opened it and gave him a small smile. Stepping out into the hallway she wrapper her arms around his neck and hugged him as she said, "Dom, I'm so sorry for what happened today."

He hugged her back as he replied, "It's ok, I shouldn't have just dumped that on you and walked away when it was obvious you were heavily affected by whatever that Kurosaki guy said or did. Can you forgive me?"

She smiled at his sweetness, "Of course, you had every reason to be annoyed, but I'm going to explain and hope that, at the end of it, you'll still be interested in…something….with me."

He gripped her tighter and inhaled deeply, "I'll listen, I want to understand and I want to help you if I can."

They pulled away from one another and walked out to his car. He drove her to a small café twenty minutes from the campus and after they'd gotten their drinks she poured out the whole story. Well, minus the powers, the hollows, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Kurosaki-kun's death and resurrection.

As she released it all she realized more and more that no matter how much grace she gave, there came a point where Ichigo had to have known she felt something for him. The culmination of everything when laid out was so great that she couldn't believe he still hadn't known or at least suspected!

At the end of it all she said, "Dom, I don't want you to think for one second I'm using you as a rebound. Well, that would mean Kurosaki-kun and I would have had to actually had a relationship I guess, but I think it's close enough. I was, and part of me still is if I'm being honest, in love with him. He's just someone who wedged his way into my heart and I can't get him out instantaneously. I'm very attracted to you for so many reasons and enjoy the time we spend together but I don't want to be unfair to you."

Dominic sat silent for several moments processing everything she had told him. He weighed the pros and cons of where they stood now. He knew he'd fallen hard for her in a very short amount of time. He wasn't sure he could call it love quite yet but he knew it could become that very quickly if they continued seeing each other at the rate they were. He couldn't get enough of her and not just because she was beautiful, though that was undeniable.

He enjoyed her company, her odd sense of humor, her kindness, her joy; so many things it made his head spin.

But the fact was she still had a hang up over this guy from her past and though she was trying to move forward she couldn't let him go entirely, at least not yet. Could he deal with that? Could he handle the possibility that she may _never_ get over him properly? His heart hurt about that, not even necessarily for himself, but for her. That was no way to live a life.

Dom was not a believer in a one and only true love but Orihime had confessed that was her world view for years. He could see why she'd have a harder time letting go of this guy because if she'd promised to love him forever and then reneged on that promise she was going against her own worldview, her own instincts. No wonder she was in so much pain!

She was patiently giving him time to sort out his thoughts but the longer the silence went on the more her shoulders drooped in defeat.

He reached out and grabbed both her hands in his, "Orihime, I want to try. But I may need to slow down the pace of how much we see each other. I don't want to be so far ahead of you with my feelings that I end up getting frustrated or push you into something you're not ready for."

She smiled and took a deep breath, "That's more than fair. Thank you Dom, for not being mad at me or thinking I'm stupid or anything like that."

He shook his head, "You're not stupid you're still young. I mean, not that I'm old enough to be a sage of wisdom," here she giggled as he continued, "but I have had more experience with romantic relationships. From what I'm hearing _dating_ me will be your first and that's ok. I presumed you had before and that was my mistake. So now, knowing this information, I can better adjust to your pace."

"So, we're dating then?" Orihime asked shyly, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

Dom smiled warmly and squeezed her hands, "Only if you want to."

"Yes I do," Orihime said quickly making him laugh.

"Ok then Orihime Inoue, consider yourself officially "spoken for" as of this moment," he commented and kissed her hand.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:**

 **Cristia2311: I'm so glad you're enjoying this. I have to admit it's been fun to write and I hope it continues to be enjoyed by everyone.**

 **Nypsy: I entertained the idea of making him a secret bad guy instrument or end up being a jerk but then decided, nope, he's just straight up a rival for Orihime's affections. One that Ichigo isn't prepared for because he's been so busy trying to push away his feelings for her.**

 **Adzara: Glad you like it, hope I am able to write in such a way that you continue to do so.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 8 –Reunion

It had been one month since Orihime and Dom officially started dating but she had yet to tell any of her friends back in Karakura. Part of the reason was she barely talked to anyone. Tatsuki was traveling for her tournaments, Ishida he was super busy with school, Chad really didn't talk that much to begin with and Ichigo… she was pretty much avoiding.

After the incident on the phone she just couldn't bring herself to stay in consistent contact with him. Truthfully she was floored he'd been trying as much as he was and had she been the "old" Orihime she would have dropped everything with Dom just so she could stay in this faux closeness with Ichigo.

But she was "grownup" Orihime now, a woman who wasn't fawning over a high school crush though she'd only been out of high school about six months and was still new to this whole adult persona.

Dominic was perplexed by her attitude in sharing their relationship. He had said he would move at her pace and if she wasn't ready to take their relationship public (well at least to her friends because all of his knew about her) he wouldn't push her about it.

However, the day came when she would need to disclose his existence. With a rare free weekend available her friends were coming to visit her in Tokyo and he had no intention of being left in the shadows.

"They're an important part of your life Orihime," he had said during dinner a week before the gang was scheduled to arrive, "so I want to meet them."

She nodded but still looked more hesitant than he was comfortable with.

"Babe, are you ashamed of us? Of me?" he asked and she shook her head vehemently in the negative.

"No Dom, never, it's not that at all, it's just that my friends are very protective of me almost to a ridiculous point. I just know they're going to second guess me and think I don't know what I'm doing and…and…" she trailed off not wanting to finish her thought.

"And they hoped you would have ended up with Kurosaki, right?" he asked, eyebrows rising interrogatively, "Is he coming too?"

She nodded, her face sad, but she smiled slightly when he continued, "Well, people don't always get what they hoped for. That's part of life. I'm a part of your life now and I want meet them, even Kurosaki, please?"

"Yes of course, I'm sorry if my silence and hesitancy has made you think I'm ashamed or hiding you. It's not that at all. Honestly, I wanted to have more time to get used to the idea. This is all new for me."

He nodded, taking a bite of food before adding, "I know and I'm sorry if I'm pushing you. I mean, if you _really_ don't want me to meet them I won't but I'm not going to lie and say I'm fine with it."

She shook her head, "No, you're right. Plus, I'm a terrible liar anyway, they would know something is up so it's best to just get it out in the open right away so we can enjoy the weekend with them."

"Good, I'm glad that's settled. Now, are you ready to go see that movie?" he asked standing up from the table. She nodded as she took his outstretched hand and stood up. They walked out the door of his apartment to his car.

The following Thursday night found Ichigo and Chad on a train headed out of Karakura. The orange hair was scowling out the window as he sat across from his giant friend, who had shockingly threatened to carry Ichigo to the train station when he'd said he wasn't going. Knowing his friend was serious Ichigo relented grumbling the entire time.

Once the train was underway his normally silent friend asked, "Ichigo, why didn't you want to come this weekend?"

Ichigo shot his eyes from the view outside to Chad's face and grunted, "Heh, I know Inoue doesn't want to see me Chad. It would have been better if I'd not come."

Chad's eyebrows rose a little, lifting his bangs slightly to show his eyes, "What do you mean? You're her friend, why wouldn't she want to see you?"

"Starting to wonder if that's true anymore. I don't know, maybe she never really forgave me for not saying goodbye when she left," Ichigo muttered looking down at the ground.

"Inoue isn't like that Ichigo, you know that," Chad rumbled.

"Then what the hell else did I do?" Ichigo asked sharply, his eyes shooting back up, "I…" he stopped, not wanting to go into his feelings. Ichigo didn't talk about his feelings and hated how twisted up he felt over a girl and not just any girl but over Orihime. A girl who until the past year he's only seen as a friend. A girl who invaded his dreams and made his heart twist painfully.

Shaking his head he looked back out the window, "Never mind Chad, I don't want to talk about it. Let's just hope we can get through this weekend."

Ichigo was thankful it was Chad he was traveling with because the gentle giant respected his wishes and asked him no more questions. Actually, he didn't speak again at all, just joined his troubled friend in staring at the passing scenery.

Chad knew Ichigo was hurt. It was easier to read him than the orange hair would admit, especially for someone like Chad who was a better observer than converser. But he also knew no good would come from pushing him, so he let him be for now.

In Tokyo Tatsuki was on her way upstairs to her and Uryu's room. They hadn't seen each other for three weeks and she was excited to have a couple days with him, even if they were being shared with their other friends.

" _But I'll have him to myself during the nights_ ," she thought with a smirk.

If seven months ago anyone had told her she would be dating the Quincy and giddy at the prospect of seeing him she would have decked them. But even with the time and distance apart their relationship continued to flourish and she was happier than she'd been in a long time.

Stepping out at the 12th floor of the high rise hotel they were staying at she made her way to the door of their room and opened it with the key card.

Inside at the desk sat her boyfriend diligently working on homework he'd had to bring in order to even be able to come on this trip. He looked up momentarily at the door and smiled at her before continuing his work.

Walking over to the desk she stood behind the chair he was in and placed her hands on his shoulders, slowly rubbing out the knots as he worked. He groaned slightly when she hit a particularly tight spot and dropped the pen he had in his hand, leaning back against the chair and closing his eyes.

"Uryu," she whispered in his ear and her breath made his skin tingle, "You've been at that since we got here. That was four hours ago. Take a break, come on," she coaxed and pulled on the chair a little.

He nodded and stood up, taking a moment to stretch before he whipped around and gathered her in his arms. With two long steps they were at the side of the bed and he laid her down on it before settling himself over her petite frame.

Though his movements were gentle Tatsuki knew the fiery passion that burned within the normally reserved Quincy. It had surprised her the first time they'd made love. She'd expected him to be hesitant either from just his nature or inexperience (it had been both of their first times so she wasn't really one to talk about experience). However, though he had been careful with her she'd been pleasantly surprised at how intense of a lover he could be. It made her tingle all over whenever she thought about it during their times apart.

Her thoughts returned to the moment at hand as he removed his glasses and put them on the nightstand in order to turn his attention to kissing her neck. She sighed contentedly as his lips moved down the column of flesh, setting ablaze each nerve he touched.

Her hands wound round to his back and rubbed up and down as he continued to lavish her neck with kisses and light suckles, the very motions he knew to get her going.

Leaning up he moved to kiss her lips, not bothering with slow sweet kisses but delving right into heated, open mouthed ones, tongues dancing together as their breathing increased.

Just when he'd reached down to unbutton her blouse there came a knock at the door.

"Damn it," he hissed clenching his eyes shut and she, though silent, agreed with the sentiment. He opened his eyes again and stared into hers as he said, "Sorry I worked for so long but we'll make sure to take time for ourselves tonight ok?"

She nodded and he kissed her deeply again but pulled away to shout as the knocking became more pronounced, "Coming, don't break the door down!"

Tatsuki chuckled at his frustration as he climbed off of her and put his glasses back on. He adjusted his clothing while walking to the door and by the time he opened it looked as impeccable as ever.

"Geez Ishida, what the hell took," Ichigo said but stopped when he noticed Tatsuki on the bed, her head propped up on her hand as she lay on her side facing the door with a devilish grin on her face. She loved making the orange hair uncomfortable; it amounted to no end of entertainment.

"Oh," he finished lamely before looking back to his cousin and clearing his throat. Tatsuki snickered and Uryu rolled his eyes before saying, "Yes, yes, come in. Hello Chad," he added to the man behind Ichigo.

"Hmm, hey Ishida, Tatsuki," he replied as he followed Ichigo into the room.

"So, what's the plan?" Ichigo asked as he sat down in the desk chair.

"Tomorrow morning we are meeting Orihime at her college so she can show us around and we'll go to breakfast. After that, we'll just spend time together doing whatever we feel like," Tatsuki answered now sitting cross-legged on the bed. Chad had taken a corner of it and Ishida was standing next to his girlfriend.

"Huh, ok then, anyone up for dinner? I'm starved" Ichigo replied.

"Sure, let's go to the restaurant downstairs, that way we don't have to bother with a cab or walking," Ishida said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Once downstairs and situated at their table Ichigo asked Tatsuki about her latest tournament. The karate fighter gave a quick rundown of the events which included her taking second overall for the women's division.

After they'd ordered the conversation consisted mostly of catching up on their respective school experiences and how classes were going thus far. They all agreed that it felt odd not to be at the same school anymore.

When dinner had been completed and the bill paid the four friends headed back to their respective rooms, planning to meet in the lobby at 8:30 in order to be meeting with Orihime at 9:00.

The next day they did as planned and grabbed a cab to head to her school. Tatsuki noticed that Ichigo looked more tense than usual but for once didn't press him about it. She wanted their time to be enjoyable and riling up her friend was not going to help that happen.

At nearly 9:00 on the dot the cab pulled up to the front of the school and Uryu paid the fare. The foursome began walking onto the campus looking around as they headed to the building number of Orihime's dorm.

Tatsuki and Uryu were walking slightly ahead of Chad and Ichigo so they spotted Orihime first where she stood outside her dorm. She was talking to a tall, well built guy with brown hair, smiling and laughing a bit and hadn't yet seen her friends.

Tatsuki felt apprehension spring to her heart suddenly and knew that this weekend just got a whole lot more interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 9 – Meeting the Boyfriend

(Ichigo's POV)

As we walked to Inoue's dorm I kept my eyes trained on the ground, my shoulders tense. One part of me really wanted to see her, hoping that maybe if we saw each other face to face we could get past whatever this awkwardness was between us. Thinking of that made me scowl harder. I didn't want to care about her this much especially since I'd decided nothing could come of it. I'd never been good with emotions so all this turmoil was making me sick of myself.

Our destination was getting closer and the knot in my stomach tighter when I heard Tatsuki inhale sharply. Shooting up my eyes to her first and finding nothing visibly wrong with her I trained my eyes over her head to follow her line of sight.

" _What…the…hell?"_ I thought darkly, taking in the sight of some guy standing _very_ close to Inoue. The knot in my stomach turned into a full fledge ulcer in under a second.

She hadn't seen us yet and was giggling as she talked with this douche bag. Suddenly she turned her head and seeing all of us let out a squeal of delight. Rushing forward she hugged Tatsuki tightly, then Uryu, then Chad.

Unsurprisingly she hesitated when she reached me though I wondered if it was because of whatever was going on between us or because I was frowning deeply.

"Ano, hello Kurosaki-kun," she said softly moving forward slowly. I could tell she didn't want to leave me out of getting a hug, because Inoue just didn't do that to people, but she also didn't know how to approach me. I knew she could feel my reiatsu flaring and see the tenseness of my body.

I just couldn't help it. I was caught off guard seeing her in such close proximity to a guy. A guy I didn't know.

A guy who at the moment my hollow was growling at.

The air was thick with tension as Inoue and I stared at each other. If she touched me I didn't know what I would do so I simply said, "Yo, Inoue," keeping my hands firmly in my jacket pockets.

There, nonchalant, like I didn't give a shit, like my heart wasn't beating so hard in my chest I was sure she and everyone in the near vicinity could hear it.

Her face dropped slightly, but it wasn't like she was smiling very sincerely before anyway. I knew her expressions better than most. It came with the territory of being an obsessed pervert over her apparently.

It was definitely a mistake to come here.

The silence wore on until Tatsuki cleared her throat, "Ahem, ah, Orihime, why don't you introduce us?"

Inoue held my gaze half a second more before nodding and turning away from me. I let go of a breath I didn't realize I was holding and moved forward to the group.

"Sorry," she said with a shaky laugh and smile, "I can't believe how poor my manners are."

She started pointing to people saying our names, "This is Arisawa Tatsuki, my very best friend in the whole world. Next is her boyfriend Ishida Uryu. This is Yasutora Sado but everyone calls him Chad. And this is Kurosaki Ichigo. Everyone this is Dominic Langer," and her next words rocked us all, "my boyfriend."

We were stunned to momentary silence staring at Dominic.

" _So much for being a friend,"_ I thought bitterly as I shook his hand very firmly. I met his eyes; eyes almost as green as the man I'd killed in Hueco Mundo. Now my hollow was screaming to kill the man in front of me. His bloodlust was not helping my blood pressure and it was taking a significant amount of concentration to keep him at bay.

"Boy…boyfriend?" Tatsuki stammered out as she shook his hand then shook her head saying, "Sorry, it's just, this is such a surprise, we had no idea Orihime was seeing anyone."

Dominic smiled and it made me want to punch out his perfect teeth, "It's perfectly ok Arisawa-san," his formal address of her earning raised eyebrows from her and Ishida, "No offence taken of course."

Inoue suggested coming up to see her room and meet her roommate. As they turned to walk ahead of us Dominic took Inoue's hand and I flinched. I absolutely loathed how much this was affecting me though I wasn't sure what to do about it.

If I'd thought things were awkward between Inoue and I before then the situation now was beyond my ability to describe it. She barely looked at me anymore, let alone spoke to me. It made me one part annoyed and one part angry, but I knew I couldn't really blame her.

My posture, my expression, everything about me I knew was throwing out severely negative vibes. While I'd like to think it was no worse than my usual projection of indifference to the world around me I could only lie so much to myself.

Still, I kept feeling like something else, something I was unaware of, was causing her to act like I wasn't there. Or if she did happen to look at me she immediately moved her eyes away.

We'd met her roommate Tamara, who seemed particularly cold towards me, but then again, my outward appearance wasn't exactly friendly.

By 10:00 everyone was talking about going to breakfast, though I had lost my appetite. We headed down the street to a local café everyone loved and found it somewhat crowded. But since we were willing to sit on the patio we were given a table within 15 minutes.

By this time Ishida and Tatsuki were talking more with Dominic, trying to get to know him in an effort to be supportive for Inoue I suppose. I, for obvious reasons, was not and Chad barely spoke to us, let alone a stranger. I was tuning out most of the conversation until I heard Ishida ask, "So, how did the two of you meet?"

This I wanted to hear so I focused my attention back to the people in front of me. I could see Inoue blushing so either she was embarrassed, nervous or both to tell us where they'd met.

Dominic smiled lightly as he replied, "We met at a dance club in downtown Tokyo. Fun place, we should take you all there while you're in town."

A club? She met this guy at a club? I couldn't help the scoffing sound that came out of my throat and saw Inoue flinch but Ishida cleared his throat and replied, "I'm sure that would be enjoyable."

Dominic turned the question back on them, "So since we're swapping meeting stories, how about you two?" He indicated the couple across from him.

Tatsuki and Uryu looked at each other. I'd hadn't heard all the details of them getting together and only found out about them because I saw them holding hands at the train station the day Inoue left. The memory almost made me groan. I still couldn't believe I'd done that.

Tatsuki smiled, almost shyly and it still weirded me out that Ishida of all people could get her to act like a girl every once in a while.

Then she spoke, "Well, it's kind of funny. We were supposed to be meeting up with Orihime and Ichigo to hang out. Chad was out of town that weekend and I'd thought it would be nice to have the four of us get together. We'd been so busy it really seemed like it was time."

Uryu picked up the tale, "So there we were, waiting for these two to show up when both texted that they had to cancel."

I thought hard, trying to remember the night they were talking about. Then it hit me. It was seven months ago and we'd just finished with some mid-term testing. All of us were wiped out from the studying, even Ishida, when Tatsuki had suggested we do something fun together.

That night however my dad was swamped with patients and told me I had to stay to help. I, of course, made a huge stink about it to him but secretly I'd been glad. Even with Ishida and Tatsuki there I didn't trust myself not to say or do something to show Inoue how I felt.

Why Inoue had ended up canceling I have no idea, I actually hadn't known she had until that moment.

I pulled out of my memories to refocus on what Uryu was saying.

"So, Tatsuki and I decided to continue on with the evening's plans. We went to dinner and had a great conversation. Before that we'd never really spent any time alone together, always having been with our friends at school, so it was surprising to find we could carry on a thorough conversation. After dinner we saw a movie and then went out for ice cream."

"By the time Uryu walked me home I realized we'd basically been on an accidental date," Tatsuki said with a laugh, "and the crazier thing, well to me at least, was that I wanted to do it again."

Uryu smiled at her, obviously not bothered in the least at hearing her say wanting to go out with him again was crazy to her at that time; it was probably crazy to him too.

"So, there we were, standing at her door and…I don't know…something just clicked," Uryu said, "I kissed her hand and told her I'd had a lovely time. She reciprocated her enjoyment of the evening and before I knew what I was saying I'd asked her to go out with me the following weekend, just the two of us."

"The rest, as they say, is history," Tatsuki continued after she'd finished a bite of her pancakes, "we started dating officially but kept it dark from everyone until after graduation."

"Oh, why was that?" Dominic asked. Really, it was a reasonable question, but I instantly felt like telling him it wasn't any of his damn business.

Tatsuki laughed, "Well, both of us didn't want to have our new found romance mocked or questioned by anyone and truth be told I'd never shown interest in anyone before ever so it was all new to me. I had to adjust my perceptions, my expectations, everything. Uryu was so patient," she ended looking at him fondly.

My cousin returned the look of affection while saying, "I'll admit, it was challenging to breakdown her walls, but eventually she learned to trust me. I, too, had many hang ups I had to let go of to truly enjoy being together and we sort of helped each other with those things that had held us back."

I chanced a glance at Inoue and was surprised to see her looking at me before she shot her eyes back to our friends with a warm smile on her face.

" _What was that just now?"_ I thought. It had been so brief I wondered if I imagined it but I could have sworn I saw, _something_ , in her eyes.

The conversation moved on to different topics but I couldn't get that look in Inoue's eyes out of my mind. If she was with the guy next to her why was she looking at me while hearing that mushy, stomach turning story of friendship turned to romance?

Later after we'd left the café we walked back to the dorms. We headed towards one of the parking lots but before any of us could question why Dominic spoke again, "Well, it was very nice meeting all of you and I'll see you tonight but for now I have to head off to work."

He turned to Inoue and set a hand on her neck looking in her eyes. I felt my blood pressure rising again.

"I'll see you later babe," he said and kissed her lightly on the lips. My fist clenched hard in my pocket and I was sure I'd drawn blood from my nails impaling the flesh of my hand.

The fuss my hollow was putting up made me exceedingly glad that Dominic was leaving us for the rest of the day. I could tell this weekend was going to take it out of me and the less time I had to spend witnessing Inoue's new relationship the better.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

 **LeeHimeChan: Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it.**

 **Hikari0605: I totally agree and I'm kind of writing her that way. She is in many ways childish (the blue men, talking to herself, her wild imagination) so this behavior makes sense to me. She's fearful and unconfident in herself so her reaction to what she overhead makes sense in my head. She wouldn't confront him about her feelings after that. But don't worry Ichigo is not going to be getting all the blame here, her behavior is going to be called out. Also, though Tamara is a more "experienced" girl than Orihime, she is still a young girl and has a tendency to side with her girlfriends rather than gather all the information. She's not exactly opposite of Tatsuki but she's different.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 10 – It's Dangerous to Eavesdrop

(Ichigo's POV)

After Dominic left things were only slightly less awkward for Inoue and me, though we'd managed to start at least talking to each other, if briefly.

It was decided to go to a movie. I was just glad to go somewhere we were expected not to talk. Silence with Inoue used to be comfortable for me as just having her around was nice. Now, it was anything but.

The movie was a generic action flick, nothing too big on plot but lots of special effects. I could hear Inoue's exclamations of delight or gasps of surprise and the familiarity of it softened my heart a little. Until that moment I hadn't realize how much resentment I'd been feeling towards her and it surprised me.

I decided to really try to enjoy the time with her, after all, I really had missed her and I still did want to try to replenish some of the friendship we had.

I was noticeably calmer after the movie and the tension in our group seemed to have melted because of it. Really, sometimes I forget how affected we are by each other.

We were walking down the street towards our hotel, the silence among us finally being back to comfortable, when we all felt a hollow appear nearby.

It was low level so I decided to take care of it myself and since we were near our hotel the five of us actually took the time to go back up to mine and Chad's room so I could just leave my body there.

I pressed my badge to my chest and shunpo'd out to do battle. By the time I reached the location there were two more hollows but they too were small. I was looking to fully releasing all the tension I had been feeling since embarking on our trip to Tokyo so I didn't mind the extra work.

The fight was over quickly and before long I was heading back to the room. I tried to make sure to keep my reiatsu reigned in more since I was fairly sure for three hollows to show up simultaneously they had to have felt my earlier outbursts.

I'd returned to my body and was just about to step out of the bedroom to the living area (Chad and I had gotten upgraded because the hotel accidently gave our room to another guest) when I heard Inoue and Tatuski talking. Normally I would have just stepped out but Tatsuki's words made me stop cold, "Orihime, what on earth is going on between you and Ichigo?"

I wasn't sure where Ishida and Chad were but at the moment I hoped wherever they were they stayed there. I finally had an opportunity to hear an answer to the question that had been plaguing me daily for almost two months.

I heard Inoue sigh, "I don't know Tatuski, I just…it's hard being around him. We haven't really talked that much since I left. "

"Why? I mean, I thought whatever had happened before you left was dealt with."

" _Is she talking about me not saying goodbye or is there something else I'm missing,"_ I thought as I continued to listen. I knew I shouldn't be eavesdropping but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know why Inoue was so distant, why she had retreated so far away from me so suddenly.

I heard her continue, "Well, it was, kind of, I mean, there was something but…" she trailed off, clearly not able to put into words what she was thinking.

Tatsuki sighed heavily, "Orihime, I really didn't want to ask this because I'm sure it will upset you but," she took another deep breath before plunging on, "Are you dating Dominic because you really like him, or is it to try to get over Ichigo?"

My heart stopped, I was sure at any moment I was going to fall over into the room and give myself away.

" _Get over me? What is Tatsuki talking about?"_ I thought as my pulse thundered in my ears.

I heard Orihime gasp in what could only be described as indignation, "Tatsuki, how could you think I would do something like that to someone?"

Tatsuki hurriedly went on, "I'm sorry, but, your behavior seems to show you still harbor feelings for Ichigo and if that's true, well, even though I just met Dominic I like him. He's really nice, treats you really well, all positives so far but if you're not in it for the right reasons you should back out."

My head swam with this new information. Inoue has, or at the very least, _had_ feelings for me at one point? When? And why didn't she say anything?

" **Tch and what would you have done if she had King? Huh? Oh that's right, been a little pussy about it and hid behind any number of excuses number one being me!"** Annoyingly I consider his question.

What would I have done?

Orihime hadn't responded to Tatsuki so she continued, "And really, I don't understand why you're being so distant and cold to him. This isn't like you at all! No matter what, when we were back in Karakura, you were kind and friendly to him. Now you treat him like a stranger."

I could hear Orihime breathing a little harder, her reiatsu felt…angry…hurt?

She finally spoke, "Tatsuki, you don't understand, you…you don't know what happened."

Tatsuki replied in exasperation, "Because you wouldn't tell me! Orihime, why didn't you go through with your plans to confess to him? Hmmm? You can't possibly now, all of a sudden, harbor a grudge against him because he didn't pick up on your feelings? I mean, granted, they were obvious enough that a blind mole would have known something was going on but really, you were the one who chose to keep silent. It's not fair for you to hold him responsible for something he never even knew."

I was stunned again. Orihime was going to confess to me? When?

I held my breath, hoping she would explain.

Finally she spoke, her voice softer, sad rather than angry, "You're right, Tatsuki, you're completely right. I shouldn't be treating him like this. I was actually hoping to make it up to him this weekend but it's just been so awkward being around him again. I mean, I know I was always awkward around him but this time it's different."

"Please, tell me what happened that night, you need to get this out, it's obviously still affecting you," Tatsuki coaxed gently.

But before Orihime could answer there was the sound of the keycard being placed in the lock.

Cursing silently I headed back into the room as Ishida and Chad entered the living area.

"Hey there, everything ok?" I heard Ishida ask and when he continued by asking where I was I figured the girls had just nodded.

In answer to his question I feigned just getting up from returning to my body and stepped out of the room.

"Hey," I said and met the suspicious eyes of my cousin. He, better than anyone else, knew I had to have made it back sooner than just that moment but he didn't say anything.

"So," Inoue started after a beat, "anyone interested in going to the arcade? They have a really fun one not too far from here."

Everyone agreed but I found myself saying, "You know, I'm kind of wiped out, I think I'll stick around here for a nap. I'll catch up with you guys later."

I turned and went into the bedroom, shutting the door before anyone could protest.

I couldn't be around Inoue right now, there were too many thoughts flying around in my head.

She'd had feelings for me, maybe still did deep down and I hadn't known. But could I really feign complete ignorance? I'd had moments I felt there was something there but each time I'd chalked it up to my imagination.

Now I knew I hadn't just been imagining things and the knowledge was killing me. More than that, I still didn't know why Inoue had never told me and knowing myself I would not be satisfied until I did. This was going to make the rest of the weekend go from awkward to unbearable.


	11. Chapter 11

**Shadow61953: Thank you for your compliment, I have a challenge with writing close to characterization sometimes so I'm glad to hear you feel it's realistic, even if it's frustrating, lol. Hopefully this chapter will be satisfactory.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 11 – The Hollow's out of the Bag

When Tatsuki, Orihime, Chad and Ishida had finished at the arcade the Quincy made his to Ichigo's room. He'd told everyone to go ahead to the restaurant downstairs and meet up with Dom while he collected his cousin.

He entered the room to find the substitute-shinigami on the couch, scowling at the TV but it was evident he wasn't paying any attention to the show. His eyes flicked to Uryu briefly before returning to the screen.

Ishida strode over, clicked off the television and stood in front of Ichigo with his arms crossed.

"Now then," he said ignoring the eyes boring through him, "what the hell is going on with you and Inoue-san? I thought things had improved after the movie today but clearly that is not the case."

"It's none of your business Ishida, just leave it alone," growled out the orange hair.

Ishida walked forward, grabbed him by the collar hauling him off the couch and slammed him against the wall.

"What the fu…" Ichigo began but Uryu cut him off, "Kurosaki, I am tired of your childish tendencies to not deal with your feelings. I don't care how badass you think you are. You are not immune to the more tender emotions. Clearly, the relationship between Inoue-san and Langer-kun bothers you. Why will you not tell her how you feel?"

Ichigo shoved him away roughly just barely keeping himself from decking him in the face but it would do no good to trash what appeared to be a very expensive hotel suite.

He really did not want to confirm what he knew Ishida had deduced himself but saw no way out of it.

"Why the hell would I now that she has a boyfriend? I'm not going to be "that guy" Ishida," he yelled.

Uryu shook his head before continuing, "You're an idiot you know that, right?"

Ichigo huffed but said as he opened the door, "Yeah, I know," then walked out.

How Ichigo made it through dinner with Dominic present was a miracle. He was still seething from his confrontation with Ishida and boiling like a pressure cooker from having overheard about Orihime's supposed feelings for him.

He knew he'd really lose control if they actually made it to the club and he'd have to watch Inoue dance with her boyfriend so once they were in the lobby of their hotel and before he could talk himself out of it he'd grabbed her elbow whispering hoarsely, "I need to talk to you, now."

Dominic made a move as if to stop them but Orihime put her hand up, "No Dom, it's ok. We'll be back in a few minutes, just wait here," she said and her eyes implored him to not try anything. She knew he had no idea how strong Ichigo really was and she didn't want him to get hurt nor cause a scene.

He relented begrudgingly asking the others, "What is that all about?" as they all watched the two orange hairs headed to the elevators.

"I'm not sure," Tatsuki said but she had suspicions she was not going to voice.

Ichigo had all but drug Orihime to and into the elevator. He hit the button of his floor and they started up.

"Kurosaki-kun?" she inquired but before she could continue he said roughly, "Not here."

She shut her mouth, looking at the ground, nervous and just a little bit frightened.

The elevator ride felt like it drug on forever but thankfully no one else got on so it continued straight to the 14th floor. After the doors opened Ichigo strode forward but had relinquished his hold on her. She followed him and entered his room after he opened the door for her, him following on her heels. Once the door had shut he turned around but suddenly realized what opening his mouth would do.

So he said the first thing that came to his mind, mostly because it was the truth, "I don't like Dominic."

She stood looking at him in shock and then crossed her arms, "You brought me all the way up here to tell me that?"

"Would you have preferred I did there?" he bit back. He knew he was letting his emotions get the better of him but he couldn't stop.

"No," she replied slowly, "but I do think you could have made less of a scene or waited until the end of the evening. And why?"

"Why what?"

She sighed, "Why don't you like him? You've barely talked to him or seen him today so how could you form an opinion so quickly?"

He scowled and crossed his arms, "I don't like him touching you. I hate that he kisses you."

She blushed but made herself speak, "What do you expect? He's my boyfriend, Kurosaki-kun! He shows affection! Look, this…this…big brother, over protective behavior is too much! You don't have to like him but you don't have to be so rude!"

Ichigo scoffed, "You think I don't like him for the reasons I gave because I think of you as my sister? That it's only because I want to protect you?!"

She faltered slight before continuing, "What other reason could there possibly be?"

He ignored her question and asked the one most prevalent on his mind, despite its potential for further irreparable damages, "Inoue, why didn't you tell me you had feelings for me?"

"Wha? How?" she stammered but he cut off her unfinished question, "I overheard you talking with Tatsuki today. Now, why didn't you tell me?"

Surprisingly her eyes hardened a bit and he wasn't sure if it was because he'd admitted to listening in on her conversation or because she was remembering the reason she hadn't told him about her feelings.

"Why would I when you didn't even want to go on one date with me?" she asked coolly.

For a moment Ichigo actually didn't understand what she meant but then comprehension hit him like a ton of bricks, "You heard that? At Keigo's house? You heard all that?"

She nodded, "Yes and you made it pretty clear how abhorrent it would be to you to ask me on one date so why on earth would I tell you I have…had feelings for you after that?"

"Is that what I said? Did I use those words? All I said was no but you don't know the context of why, you just jumped to a conclusion Inoue! Plus it sounds like you've felt like this for a while, why didn't you tell me before all that happened?" Ichigo said firmly.

"Why do you even care? Why are you asking me about this now of all times?" she asked and he was surprised at the fierceness of her tone.

He narrowed his eyes, "Why? Because I care about you damn it!"

"Since when? Oh, I know you've protected me over and over and I appreciate it, I really do but since when do you care about me as a person? As more than an obligation to save? Honestly, how could you not see how much I cared about you when we were in Karakura?"

Ichigo's eyes were almost flashing, "How the hell could I know Inoue, if you didn't tell me? Was I supposed to read your mind? Ask yourself this: you treat _everyone_ with kindness and respect, even our enemies so how was I supposed to know I was any different from any of them?"

She opened her mouth but no words came as Orihime realized he was right. Her looks of affection, her pining, everything had been done out of his sight. Sure, others had seen them but they were looking at her. If he looked at her, she hid; she hid her feelings because she was so scared to tell him the truth.

He continued, "And what do you mean care about you as a person? Of course I do! Why the hell else would I have done everything I did for you?"

"Because that's what you do, you're a hero," she stated back, ignoring his eye roll at her calling him a hero, "you would have done it for anyone."

"No, I wouldn't have for just anyone," he said firmly.

"Then I'll ask you the same thing you asked me. If your actions were ones believed to be performed for any and all wronged persons, how could I possibly know I was any different in your eyes if you didn't tell me? Honestly, I thought you were keeping in contact with me so much the past few months out of guilt because you didn't say goodbye so I tried to back off so I wouldn't get hurt again!"

Ichigo ran hands through his hair in frustration, "I couldn't tell you Inoue, I just…I can't…"

Ichigo's head felt like it was going to split open. His hollow was exploiting his lack of focus to try to force his way out. He closed his eyes in concentration to push him back.

Orihime felt she needed to get out of there, she'd begun to hope something she had been steadfastly trying to push out of her heart but this stupid argument with Ichigo was drumming everything all up again.

While he was distracted she made her way past him to the door. She'd opened it but he slammed it shut and pulled her away.

"Kurosaki-kun, let me out of here right now," she shouted but he ignored her and bolted the door.

" **We're not done yet** ," he said quietly and his voice startled her. It didn't sound like him.

When he'd turned around to face her she gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth. Gold irises surrounded by black sclera bore into her grey eyes which had begun to fill with tears.

" _Why is he here?"_ she thought, heart filled with terror at being alone with Ichigo's hollow.

" **Hi Queen, long time no see,"** he rasped out as he stalked forward. Orihime felt very much like prey with a predator closing in on her.

She was so terrified she couldn't even scream. The last time he'd come out Uryu had almost died.

Ichigo's body stopped moving and he regarded her with an almost neutral expression on his face.

" **Relax Queen, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk to you since King is too stupid, stubborn or both to tell you the truth,"** he said almost gently and she blinked in confusion.

He sighed in frustration and took another step forward but this time, amazingly, Orihime did not retreat. She'd locked eyes with him and hadn't looked away, initially too terrified to, but now, as he'd spoken she saw the sincerity in them. That, or he was a very, very good liar and that thought had her rethinking the decision to stand still.

When he'd almost reached her she called forth her fairies, being able to call them with just her thoughts now, and encased him in her shield dome.

He smirked and said, " **And here I thought we were making such great progress. What's with the cage queeny?"**

Orihime swallowed once, trying to get her voice to work as she still stared into those golden eyes, "I…I don't trust you quite yet so, if you want to talk, you can talk from in there."

He chuckled and tapped against the shield. Cocking his head slightly he pulled back and flung his fist into it, shattering it easily. She squeaked in surprise and jumped back. Just when she was ready to call Tsubaki out she noticed he hadn't moved towards her.

He snickered a bit, " **See Queen? I'm not going to hurt you but I spend enough time locked up and I'm not going to waste one moment in confinement. Now, are you ready to listen to me?"**

She nodded, no longer able to find the strength to speak. Regrettably she noticed her continued retreats had caused her to end up being backed against the wall. Before he could continue, however, he grabbed his head violently and fell to the ground on his knees.

" **Argh! KING! Will you chill out and just listen?!"**

Orihime watched helplessly as the two of them struggled for dominance but then made a decision. She stepped forward and placed her hands on Ichigo's shoulders. The golden eyes shot up to her face and she spoke to the man inside, "Kurosaki-kun, I want the truth. You decide if it's going to come from you or him but I want to hear it."

There was a pause and then his body collapsed. Orihime just barely held herself up from toppling on top of him and laid him prone on the ground. She could see his face twitching at they fought again.

 _IN ICHIGO'S INNER WORLD_

" _You bastard, I told you to stay away from her," Ichigo shouted and slammed Zangetsu against his hollow's copy of the same sword._

" _ **King, for just once, listen to me! I didn't hurt her did I? I didn't violate her, I didn't even touch her, she touched me!"**_

 _Ichigo thought it over, knowing he was right but he didn't trust him, he couldn't, not with something this important._

" _ **King, think about it. If I didn't hurt her when I was in full and utter control of your body what makes you think I would start now? Where do you think my "feelings" for her come from? I'm a hollow, I don't feel on my own. I don't even understand this all myself but all I know is I want to protect her and I've never wanted to protect anything in my existence besides my own skin. I want to be near her."**_

" _Yeah just so you can have your way with her! Why after everything you've said about her would you think I'd ever let you near her?!"_

 _The hollow sighed then chuckled, "_ _ **King, I said those things to rile you up. Sure, I have the hots for her but so do you! Remember, I feel what you feel. I may be partly my own but I exist within you. Really, do you want to keep having this argument with me? You heard her, she wants the truth so go tell it to her before I get back out there and do it for you!"**_

 _Ichigo didn't understand his hollow's willingness to stay behind but he took the opening and projected himself back into control of his body._

When he opened his eyes it was to see Inoue leaning over him, a worried expression on her face.

 **Author's Note: I really had meant to drag out the confrontation about the confession longer but that didn't feel right for the pacing. Plus Ichigo is impulsive and I think he wouldn't sit on what he overheard for long. I would have kept going on this but this chapter has already gotten longer than I anticipated so the second part of this is up next. Mutual confession!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in anyway but am inspired by the work created by Tite Kubo**

Chapter 12 – The Difference a Day Makes

When Ichigo's brown eyes locked onto hers Orihime breathed a sigh of relief as he sat up and flung her arms around his neck hugging him tightly.

"Thank you for coming back," she whispered as he squeezed her arm.

She held him for a moment like that before shifting away so they could stand. The moment they were both back on their feet Ichigo surprised her by drawing her into his arms, resting her head against his chest and his head on top of hers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling his scent and relishing in the strength of his warm embrace. His heart was beating hard and she sent up another prayer of thanks that it was beating.

"It was because of him I couldn't tell you," she heard him say and his voice reverberated in his chest.

She pulled back and looked up at his face, a question not spoken written on her face. Suddenly she realized the close proximity of their faces and went to take a step back but he held her fast against him.

"Inoue," he said so softly she scarcely recognized his voice again but this time she knew this was all Ichigo. This was Ichigo completely exposed emotionally and she was going to drink in every moment no matter what.

Ichigo could feel his heart thundering in his chest. He'd never felt this much anxiety, been this nervous, not even when he was training nor when he'd almost become a full fledged hollow. He swallowed once and forced himself to tell her the truth.

"Inoue," he began again, "The reasons I gave for not liking Dominic are not because I think of myself as a brother to you or even your protector. The truth is I hate watching him do those things with you because it should be me."

She inhaled sharply and looked away but he grasped the base of her neck, his fingers tangled in her soft tresses, to pull her gaze back to his eyes.

"It should be me who holds your hand. It should be me who holds you close, like this and so much closer. It should be me who tells you you're beautiful and calls you affectionate pet names, though really that's not very much like me," here she giggled and it was like music to his ears.

He paused and looked deep in her eyes, boring into their depths to reach her very heart and soul before he said, "And it should be me who tells you I love you every day."

Her eyes went wide, "Do…do you really mean that?" She couldn't stop the question from coming out.

He smiled, taking his other hand up to her cheek and caressing it with this thumb, "Yes, I just didn't allow myself to tell you because of my hollow."

She frowned, clearly perplexed, "Why would he stop you? I already know about him. I mean, even though he scares me, it was because of him that you lived. It was because of him that I lived. That all of us lived."

He shook his head, "It was because of _you_ that I lived. I should have realized then that what brought me back from the dead wasn't just my resolve to win. It was because _you_ called to me. I realize now it was then that I'd fallen in love with you and I haven't stopped since. I just thought I could never tell you because he is so dangerous."

He paused, taking in a breath before he continued, "That and I was afraid. I thought there was no way you would want to be with me because of the monster I hold inside. Because of the horrific things I've had to do. Because I'm a man born from blood and war and both will be a part of who I am forever. But I know that's not really fair to you. If I say I wanted you to tell me your feelings for me it's only right that I tell you mine for you. So I'm telling you now, clearly, that I love you."

Orihime could only stare, wondering if this was really happening, if Ichigo was really standing before her, holding her in his arms and baring his heart to her.

"Inoue?" she heard him query but before she could reply there was a thunderous knocking on the door.

"Orihime, are you ok? What's going on?" they heard Dominic's voice yelling from the other side of the door.

"Shit," Ichigo spat but released Inoue to go to the door. He heard the bolt slide back and as the door opened he turned to face it. Dominic surged forward and gathered Inoue in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"What the hell have you two been doing? It's been almost an hour since you came up here! I want to know what's going on right now," he said firmly.

"Dom, I'm sorry, there were just some things Kurosaki-kun and I had to hash out," Orihime said sadly.

Dom's eyes hardened as he looked at Ichigo and he moved Inoue to the side, striding forward to stand before the shinigami. He and Ichigo were just about the same height and looked each other dead in the eye.

"I thought you were trouble the moment she told me about you. But I thought, hey, maybe I just don't know the whole story. And I planned on giving you a chance but the second I saw you and what you do to her I _knew_ you were trouble!"

Ichigo didn't say anything and Dominic continued, getting more worked up, "I don't know how or why but you've got her wrapped so tightly around your finger it makes me sick. One day you're here and her entire personality changes!"

"Dom, that's not true," Orihime began but he whirled round to face her and the anger in his eyes startled her to silence.

"Oh really? Then tell me why yesterday you were smiling all the time, yesterday you were laughing and joking, playing in the park with my dog like you didn't have a care in the world. You were affectionate and close like you always are. But today….TODAY you're distant, reserved, closed off and quiet. You barely smiled, you hardly laughed and every time I saw you looking at his scowling face your eyes grew sadder. You held my hand less, you pulled away! What the hell did you even see in this guy Orihime? From what I've seen all he does is bring misery to your life so why on earth are you still talking to him?"

Behind him Orihime saw Ichigo's face go from enraged to in pain and suddenly she knew that everything Dom said was true but Ichigo didn't understand why. She herself hadn't realized it until she let go of the barriers she'd placed on her heart.

She stood up a little straighter before replying, "Dominic, I understand why you think those things and part of what you say is right. Those things did change because Ichigo is here."

Ichigo's shoulders dropped a little at this but her next words made him open his eyes wider, "What you don't know, because I've been selfish and frightened and just plain stupid, is I changed because seeing him made me realize I never really let him go. I laughed and smiled less because no matter how much I did either with you, I realized I was happiest with him, even when I hurt. I was distant and quiet because I'd retreated again, I was trying to run away from these feelings which surged forward the moment I saw him. And I pulled away because I couldn't hurt him anymore. I'm so sorry that I hurt you, but I can't…I won't lie to myself or to you anymore. You're wonderful, in so many ways, but you're not him. And for me…for me there's only him."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Dom wheeled round and hit Ichigo square in the jaw. Truth be told, though he did stumble slightly from the contact, Ichigo barely registered he'd been hit partly because he'd been hit much, _much_ harder by much bigger beings but the other was he was so elated that Orihime had chosen him.

"Dominic!" shouted Orihime and he turned to face her.

"I can't believe you've let this punk ass destroy something so good in one day," he seethed and stalked forward to her. Stepping up to her he kissed her fiercely before he breathed out, "I would have loved you and treated you so much better than he ever will. This is over, hell; I doubt it even ever really started."

With that he wrenched open the door, walked out and slammed it behind him.

Orihime stood stunned for a moment looking at the door but turned when she heard Ichigo say her name. She hurried to him and looked over his face.

"Are you ok? I can't believe he hit you! More than that, I can't believe you didn't hit him back," she said examining the slight cut on his skin. He'd have a bruise but she called forth her fairies to heal him quickly.

He grasped her hands, "I'd take it again, hell, I kind of deserve it for taking you away from him." Then he frowned and asked, "I didn't misunderstand you, right? You…you want to be with me?"

She shook her head, "No, I don't just want to be with you. I love you. I never stopped. I just covered it up and ended up hurting someone in the process."

He drew her closer, placing one hand on the small of her back and the other at the back of her neck again, "Inoue, despite having the power of a goddess you are still human. You make mistakes just like the rest of us. It's ok, he'll be ok. Well, maybe not because this is you we're talking about, but I just can't care about that. All I can focus on is how badly I want to kiss you right now."

She smiled and pulled her face closer to his as she whispered, "Then kiss me, Ichigo," her lips slightly parted.

"Orihime," he breathed against her lips before forming his over them and kissing her strongly.

He inhaled deeply through his nose, taking in her scent and it made him feel light headed to be this close to her. Her hair was twisted around his fingers and the hand at her back pulled her tight against his body.

Her arms were resting on his chest and she felt his groan of pleasure when she licked his lip slightly. He parted his mouth more and took her tongue in, sucking slightly and earned a moan for his efforts.

Orihime's hands slid up his chest to grip his neck tightly her nails scratching his skin slightly and Ichigo's body was ablaze with passion for the woman in his arms.

They broke apart for air and stared at each other for a moment before kissing again, more softly this time, just enjoying the feeling of their lips together.

"I love you," he breathed against her, "And I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving Dominic wrong. I will love you, care for you, cherish you and protect you until the day I die. Hell, I know I'll do all those things once we get to Soul Society. I hope you're ready to never be rid of me Orihime. I'm hanging on to you forever."

She sighed and kissed him again before saying, "I love you too and I know you'll do all that and more. I'm never letting you go again."

They went back to kissing before another knock on the door brought them up for air.

Opening it with their arms wrapped around each other they found their friends grinning at them.

"Well it's about damn time," said Tatsuki and Ishida together. Chad flashed two thumbs up.

"I think it's time to celebrate," Tatsuki said, "Let's go dancing!"


End file.
